persimmon tree and jam
In the early spring, I planted a bare-root persimmon tree. The persimmon tree is that stick with a tag on it in the photo above
I planted it because I love to use persimmons on my Harmony Boards in the fall.
The little tree set so many blossoms that I was pinching them off daily.
As the fruit set, I eventually put on netting to keep the birds away.
During one of the recent monsoon storms, part of the netting blew off and ended up high in my Joshua tree on the front side of the house.
I tried getting it off with the telescoping pole from my pool net, but it is not budging. I guess it’s there to stay.
Anyhow, the fruit I had left on the tree to ripen was weighing down the branches and putting undue stress on the tree, so I picked the majority of the fruit off last week. The persimmons were small, rock-hard, and not yet ripe, but I discovered that when I left them at room temperature for a few days, they began to ripen and soften.
The outside was still green but the inside flesh was vibrant orange and sweet. What to do with it all? Jam seemed like the best solution.
I did some research and learned that persimmons do not have a high enough pH value to be safe for water bath canning.
The same article suggested adding another fall fruit, such as pears, and plenty of lemon juice. Problem solved.
While I was in Canada with Kim last month, we talked about the dilemma of making jam and all the sugar that is needed. Kim did some research of her own and we learned about Pomona’s Universal Pectin. This brand requires far less sugar.
For instance, I found several pear jam recipes online that used about the same about of fruit as I used in this recipe, but used 4 cups of sugar versus the 1 ½ cups I was able to use because I used Pomona’s Univeral Pectin.
The Pomona’s box also comes with a little packet of calcium powder that you mix with water to activate the pectin. Here is more about the calcium from Pomona’s website:
“Pomona’s Pectin is activated by calcium, so calcium has to be present in the mixture either naturally or added by you. Since most people don’t know the calcium content of their fruit, we recommend a calcium water amount in every recipe to be sure there is calcium in the mixture. If your fruit has calcium in it naturally, you don’t need to add the calcium water.”
One mistake I made was that I didn’t cut the fruit small enough for my small jars. As you can see in the photo above, it wasn’t as much a jam as it was chunky fruit.
To fix that, I transferred the cooked jam to a food processor and used the pulse button to get it to the consistency I wanted. I rectified that in the recipe by calling for diced fruit instead of chopped. But if you want to do less initial chopping, you can use the food processor after the fact too.
[Read more →]September 11, 2019 4 Comments
two butters, a mayo and a spread
It sounds like the start of a joke. “Two kinds of butter, a mayo, and a spread walk into a bar…”
But this is no joke, these are what I served with my biscuits and ham at our Easter brunch. My entire Easter menu was inspired by the Easter menu featured in this year’s Southern Living Magazine. Although, I made several changes in recipes and menu choices to fit my taste. For instance, their menu featured Creole Mayo, I am a fan of Sriracha Mayo, so that is what I made. More Easter brunch recipes will follow in the coming days, for today, let’s look at these four.
I took a poll at brunch and asked for everyone’s favorites. The radish-chive butter won hands down. The second favorite was the other butter, made with orange marmalade and apricot preserves. The final two were tied for third. All four make for a perfect ham and biscuit sandwich.
Radish and Chive Butter
- 1/2 cup salted butter, softened
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped radishes
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives, plus more for garnish
Beat salted butter and salt with an electric mixer on high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.
Gently stir in finely chopped radishes and chopped fresh chives. Scrape compound butter into a serving bowl, and sprinkle with more chives. Cover and chill until ready to serve.
April 3, 2018 1 Comment
knee deep
I am nearly buried in cooking classes at the moment, so I only have a couple of minutes to slap up a few photos and a couple of recipes – if you can call them recipes. They are more like quick and super easy ideas for tasty bits… almost too easy to even label “easy breezy”!
A few students are missing from this photo. One was homesick, another was late because she was coming from lacrosse practice, yet another was just running late, and so on. We start at 10:30 sharp because there is a lot to do and we can’t wait. So this is a glimpse of what it looks like at the very start of class – when the students are just getting underway. Trash cans are empty, counters are relatively clear, the floor is still rather clean, and my two assistants are observing, rather than washing, drying, and well, basically “assisting”.
The gentlemen in the forefront are mixing up bread dough, for English muffin bread. My assistants, Connor and Troy, are waiting for something to do. The young lady in the orange shirt is frying up bacon for the Bacon Strip Pancakes, the two on the right are starting on a batch of Cinnamon Roll Pancakes and the young lady in the center, at the island, is working on a batch of granola.
For our breakfast-themed meal yesterday, one of the dishes we made was English muffin bread with quick homemade strawberry jam – here is the jam simmering away. You could use a potato masher to crush the berries, but donning gloves and using your hands is so much more fun!
June 6, 2012 1 Comment
Jammin’ to the top 10
I was surfing around the net yesterday between blogs I follow, Twitter, and Facebook and I came across a Top 10 list I can truly relate to – The Top Ten Signs of a Bad Cook posted by Chow. Check it out and let me know what you think. Number three had me laughing out loud, I know people like that!
I promise, if you have this wonderful strawberry jam in your refrigerator, you will show the world that you are not “one of those people”! And although it takes hours to make, it doesn’t take much effort, if you are planning on being home, just set a timer to go off every 15 minutes, stir, and there isn’t much more to it than that!
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June 16, 2011 No Comments